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Saturday, January 02, 2010
Friday, January 01, 2010
Poem: God's Angry Rain
The windows of heaven opened
The fountains of the deep opened
And it rained forty days and forty nights
Until even K2 and Everest
Were hidden beneath
20 feet of water
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Thursday, December 31, 2009
Seattle may have let pro basketball go to Oklahoma City, but in their stead, we got pro soccer and the Lingerie League's Seattle Mist
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Seattle may have allowed/enabled the SuperSonics to depart for Oklahoma City (!), but in their stead, we do have the pro soccer Seattle Sounders, and, of course, the Seattle Mist of the Lingerie League. The Mist play in the suburbs of Seattle, in Kent--a few blocks from where I grew up. Unlike the departed SuperSonics, the resident Seahawks and Mariners, and the UW's Husky football team, the Seattle Mist actually win!
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Wednesday, December 30, 2009
A salute to President Barack Obama, George W. Bush's magnificent clean-up man, or, the man with the broom following the elephant
by Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor
As you probably know, I frequently criticize Barack Obama. I voted for the man and I like the man, but have been disappointed by his compromising and centrist stance on the issues of the day. His cool, cerebral approach is often just a little too cool. And there have been odd moments of distraction--two that come to mind are the beer party he held for his old Professor and the cop who busted him, and flying thousands of miles to throw a Hail-Mary for a Chicago Olympics bid. But that is, really, pretty small stuff.
Barack Obama has inherited and masterfully begun to tackle hundreds of problems that President George W. Bush either left behind, or actually created. This hit home this week with the Christmas Day bombing attempt on a passenger jet. And, once again, BHO is left to clean up his predecessor's mess. One expert says that the billions of dollars we have spent on airport security have been virtually worthless. Security expert Bruce Schneier wrote this week:
As you probably know, I frequently criticize Barack Obama. I voted for the man and I like the man, but have been disappointed by his compromising and centrist stance on the issues of the day. His cool, cerebral approach is often just a little too cool. And there have been odd moments of distraction--two that come to mind are the beer party he held for his old Professor and the cop who busted him, and flying thousands of miles to throw a Hail-Mary for a Chicago Olympics bid. But that is, really, pretty small stuff.
Barack Obama has inherited and masterfully begun to tackle hundreds of problems that President George W. Bush either left behind, or actually created. This hit home this week with the Christmas Day bombing attempt on a passenger jet. And, once again, BHO is left to clean up his predecessor's mess. One expert says that the billions of dollars we have spent on airport security have been virtually worthless. Security expert Bruce Schneier wrote this week:
"For years I've been saying 'Only two things have made flying safer [since 9/11]: the reinforcement of cockpit doors, and the fact that passengers know now to resist hijackers.'"
President Barack Obama said U.S. intelligence agencies missed “red flags” that would have put the Nigerian bomber on a no-fly list before Christmas Day, when he is accused of trying to blow up an airliner. He called this lapse a "systemic failure."
Our government failed to heed warnings that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab could pose a terrorist threat even after his father warned U.S. authorities about his concerns, the president said yesterday. President Obama said: “The warning signs would have triggered red flags, and the suspect would have never been allowed to board that plane for America.” Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, is charged with smuggling explosives onto a Northwest Airlines jet and trying to blow up the plane as it prepared to land in Detroit. The TSA's absurd response? Not let passengers leave their seats the last hour of a flight.
Obama said he expects results tomorrow from investigations he ordered into the nearly tragic failure of aviation security and terrorist intelligence gathering.
On top of everything else he assumed, The President now has to deal with cleaning up the entire national airline security system. If Bruce Schneier is correct, and it looks like he is, the President will need to rebuild that laughable system from the ground up. Between a two-front war, a teetering economy, and the other bits and pieces he must pick up, it's an absolute miracle Barack Obama was able to focus on health care reform. I'm glad to see he was able to get anything accomplished on that front. For now, he has to return to the job that will consume his next seven years in office: cleaning up the messes left behind by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
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Spotting a concealed weapon: how to tell if someone is packing a heater
Thanks to Jeff Clinton for sending along another great tidbit. This fascinating page from an NYC police training document. A couple years ago, a Seattle cop told me that he thought the majority of those leather fanny/front packs you see contain a heater of some sort.
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Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Old Seattle photograph
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This photo is probably from about 1900 (the flags are 45 star, which they were from 1896-1908), taken at the corner of Seattle's 2d Avenue S. and South Jackson St. in Pioneer Square. The street doesn't look much different today. The buildings still exist. One was damaged in the 2001 earthquake but was restored. This corner is now leased by--surprise--a coffee shop. Photo courtesy Allen, of Vintageseattle.org. He bought the photo used. Note: Everyone in the photo is wearing a hat.
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Monday, December 28, 2009
Young Fresh Fellows Live in Europe: If you believe in Cleveland
The YFF toured Europe in late fall performing tunes from their excellent new album (we were at the release party at The Tractor). One of the strongest new tunes is "If you believe in Cleveland..."
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The Smoking Gun busts TMZ over photos of JFK with a crowd of naked women
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By Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Editor
The Smoking Gun busts TMZ over their bogus photo/story of JFK frolicking with a bevy of naked women. The picture was actually from a 1967 Playboy story...
"TMZ claimed to have consulted with "multiple experts," including a forensic photo expert and two unnamed JFK biographers, as it sought to confirm that the late president was photographed surrounded by a quartet of naked women."
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Sunday, December 27, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
A christmas sort-of-shaggy-dog story
A Shaggy Dog Story from the Atlanta Daily
Over 10,000 men called the Atlanta Humane Society about this 6-week old Labrador puppy.
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SINGLE BLACK FEMALE seeks male companionship, ethnicity unimportant. I'm a very good looking girl who LOVES to play. I love long walks in the woods, riding in your pickup truck, hunting, camping and fishing trips, cosy winter nights lying by the fire. Candlelight dinners will have me eating out of your hand. Rub me the right way and watch me respond. I'll be at the front door when you get home from work, wearing only what nature gave me. Kiss me and I'm yours. Call (404) 874-7421 and ask for Petra.
Over 10,000 men called the Atlanta Humane Society about this 6-week old Labrador puppy.
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Thursday, December 24, 2009
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